jhe  TM.C.A. 


INDIA — Her  Problems  and  People 

“But  there  is  neither  East  nor  West , Border,  nor  Breed  nor  Birth 
When  tivo  strong  men  stand  face  to  face,  tho’  they  come  from  the  ends  of  the  earth.” 

— Rudyard  Kipling. 


TIDES  of  new  life  and  thought  are 
sweeping  through  India.  Political  dis- 
content since  the  World  War  has  been 
widespread  and  open.  The  whole  politi- 
cal horizon  is  marked  by  a struggle  for 
democracy  and  self-determination  in  gov- 
ernment. The  remarkable  developments 
in  art,  literature,  philosophy  and  religion 
of  India’s  golden  past  inspire  her  to  seek 
a new  and  independent  future. 

“Self  determination’’  and  “India  for  the 
Indians”  are  topics  at  the  heart  of  all  dis- 
cussions. Political  parties  differ  in  de- 
manding complete  independence  for  India, 
or  its  recognition  as  one  of  the  Dominions 
of  the  British  Empire. 

The  unrest  in  India  reached  its  culmina- 
tion when  Mohandas  Ghandi  proclaimed 
his  principles  of  non-cooperation  with  the 
present  government  to  bring  it  to  an  end. 
After  trial  and  imprisonment,  Ghandi  is 
again  free  and  his  influence  is  still 
powerful. 

Meanwhile,  India  has  great  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  her  cherished  development. 

1 .  The  physical  handicap  of  her  people 
is  tremendous.  Her  death  rate  is  31 .8  per 
1 ,000  as  compared  with  21 .9  in  Japan  and 
14.1  in  America.  No  fewer  than  2,000,000 


Indian  babies  die  annually.  Plague,  chol- 
era, famine  and  flood  reap  a large  harvest. 

2.  India’s  poverty  is  appalling.  Dr.  D. 
J.  Fleming  says  if  per  capita  wealth  of 
India  is  taken  as  a unit,  that  of  Japan 
would  be  3.7;  Canada,  18.3;  the  United 
Kingdom,  22.8  and  the  United  States,  27.9. 

3.  Modern  industry  is  rapidly  replacing 
handicraft  in  India.  The  new  factory  sys- 
tem takes  workers  from  the  soil  and  cre- 
ates a vicious  system  of  low  wages,  speed- 
ing up,  long  hours,  child  labor,  and  poor 
housing  conditions. 

4.  The  social  institution  of  caste  is  a 
vital  principle  of  Indian  Hinduism.  There 
are  3,000  mutually  exclusive  castes,  di- 
vided into  19,000  sub-castes.  Besides 
these,  33,000,000  untouchables  or  out- 
castes  live  in  the  outskirts  of  villages  in  ut- 
most squalor.  They  frequently  are  for- 
bidden to  use  the  village  well,  or  to  send 
their  children  to  the  regular  schools. 

3.  Illiteracy  is  startling.  142,000.000 
men  and  1 53,000,000  women  can  neither 
read  nor  write  in  English,  or  in  any  of  the 
Indian  vernacular.  Four  out  of  five  vil- 
lages are  without  educational  facilities. 
Superstition  thrives  in  the  soil  of  illiteracy 
and  ignorance. 


The  Y.  M.  C*  A*  in  India,  Burma  and  Ceylon 

Nine  years  ago  a Madras  audience  hissed  the  name  of  Christ.  In  the  same  hall  last 
year  an  audience  listened  six  nights  to  the  story  of  Christ — hundreds  stayed 
to  pray. 


Aid  to  the  Depressed  Classes : 

The  rural  work  of  the  Association  gives 
aid  to  villages  of  outcastes.  The  iniquitous 
rates  of  the  money  lenders — from  50  to 
1 50%  per  annum,  keeps  the  people  in 
hopeless  poverty  and  helpless  ignorance. 
Cooperative  credit  associations  save  these 
people  from  the  money  lenders,  assist  them 
in  the  sale  of  their  products  and  in  coop- 
erative purchasing.  Whole  villages  of 
untouchables  are  thus  transformed  into 
self-respecting  communities. 

Quiding  Student  Ideas: 

The  number  of  students  in  India  steadily 
grows  larger.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  through 
its  institutional  buildings  and  dormitories 
provides  a wholesome  atmosphere  of 
Christian  fellowship;  it  endeavors  to  in- 
spire the  future  leaders  with  ideals  of 
service  and  brotherhood. 

Play  for  Everybody : 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A .’s  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada  have  furnished  western  trained 
physical  directors  for  seven  larger  cities, 
and  in  other  centers  there  are  well  trained 
physical  directors  from  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
Training  School  in  Madras.  In  addition 
to  their  work  in  directing  games  and  exer- 
cises for  the  members,  these  directors  de- 
vote a large  part  of  their  energy  to  training 
leaders  and  physical  instructors  for  the 
schools  in  the  various  provinces  and  states. 
The  World’s  Olympic  Committee  has  re- 
quested the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  physical  depart- 
ment to  undertake  the  training  of  the 
Indian  Olympic  team  for  the  contests  of 
1 924.  The  team  taking  part  in  the  Olym- 


pics in  Paris  this  year  was  chosen  by 
competition  at  Delhi  early  in  February. 

To  Dispel  Illiteracy: 

The  Madras  and  Calcutta  Associations 
have  each  appointed  a fully  qualified  sec- 
retary to  undertake  the  building  up  of  a 
constructive  program  of  adult  education. 
By  experiment,  the  Association  hopes  to 
find  some  satisfactory  method  which  may 
readily  be  applied  by  the  regular  agencies 
of  education  in  overcoming  illiteracy. 

Education  Through  Lectures: 

To  promote  health  education,  as  well  as 
to  instruct  adults,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has 
spent  fifteen  years  in  building  up  a well 
equipped  Lecture  Department.  Sets  of 
lantern  slides  numbering  over  32,950, 
many  of  them  in  color,  are  rented  at  a 
very  nominal  fee  to  organizations.  In  1923, 
3,205  lectures  heard  by  more  than  501 ,000 
people  were  given  throughout  India.  Aside 
from  the  health  slides,  which  have  been 
proclaimed  the  best  and  most  extensive 
health  propaganda  in  India,  the  subjects 
include  religion,  sociology,  fine  arts,  crafts, 
literature,  biography,  history,  geography 
and  travel.  The  Indian  Economic  Asso- 
ciation, Epworth  League,  W.  C.  T.  U., 
missionary  and  church  organizations  and 
government  schools  are  turning  over  to 
the  Lecture  Department  material  pertain- 
ing to  their  work. 

Indian  Boys: 

The  most  timely  service  to  India’s  young 
manhood  is  best  rendered  to  the  growing 
lad.  The  Indian  boy,  like  his  brothers  in 


other  lands,  responds  to  the  appeal  of  the 
Scout  Ideal.  Scout  leaders  have  been 
loaned  by  the  National  Council  to  a few 
of  the  local  government  and  Indian  States. 
Negotiations  are  under  way  for  enlarging 
this  type  of  work. 

Welfare  Work  among  Mill  Hands: 

An  experiment  is  being  carried  on  by 
the  Indian  National  Council  in  one  of  the 
large  industrial  plants  of  India  where  over 
8,000  mill  operatives  are  given  aid,  by 
invitation  of  the  mill  owners,  in  education, 
physical  training,  health  and  sanitation. 
Eight  qualified  men  have  been  loaned  to 
this  work  and  study. 

Opening  India’s  Literary  Treasures: 

India  has  a treasure  house  of  literature, 
philosophy  and  art,  but  to  many  Indians 


these  have  been  a sealed  book  because  of 
the  diversity  of  languages  and  location. 
For  the  purpose  of  giving  a sympathetic 
interpretation  of  the  very  best  that  India 
has  produced  and  making  these  treasures 
available  to  the  Indian  reading  public,  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  produced  a series  of  in- 
spiring books  among  which  are  the  “Heri- 
tage of  India,”  and  the  “Religious  Quest 
of  India.” 

Meeting  the  Religious  Crises  of  India: 
Three  secretaries  have  been  set  apart  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  deepening  the  reli- 
gious spirit  of  the  membership  and  to 
enable  them  to  put  into  effect  a really  vital 
religious  work  program.  The  crises  of 
religious  thought  now  swaying  the  hearts 
of  the  Indian  young  men  make  this  pro- 
gram vital  to  the  Indian  work. 


Setting-up  Exercise,  Lahore 


Issued  by  the  FOREIGN  DIVISION 
of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada 
347  Madison  Avenue,  New  York 


